


Ready As I'll Ever Be

by writing_with_tea



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Abusive Parents, Adrien is evil momentarily, Angst, F/M, Identity Reveal, Post-Canon, They're all eighteen now, Wishes have consequences, and can use their powers without a time limit, dead mom, other couples are mentioned but aren't really relevant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:36:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29914257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writing_with_tea/pseuds/writing_with_tea
Summary: Based on this video https://youtu.be/MSfHvjeAyIk which would also spoil parts of the story so I'll let you know when the chapter arrives where it's relevant.Adrien and Marinette know each other's identities and are dating. Together with the other heroes, they keep Paris in check, but still haven't defeated Hawkmoth. With college fast approaching, Marinette decides it's finally time to seek out the supervillain and take away his Miraculous. But when Hawkmoth is defeated and his identity revealed, how is Adrien going to cope with knowing his father caused all this harm...and the reason why he did it?
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 5
Kudos: 15





	1. Speedster

It was the March of their final year of secondary school, and life was pretty good.

Marinette and Adrien had been in a relationship for the last couple years and had plans to stay together after graduation. Marinette had gotten into a prestigious fashion school, and Adrien would be taking a gap year before looking for baking schools. The gap year was his father’s idea, in order to squeeze more modeling out of him, but Adrien had plans to use it to his advantage. Now that he was eighteen, he legally owned all his modeling earnings. If he paid his own way through college, there wasn’t much his father could do to stop him, no matter how much he might disapprove of a baker’s career.

Meanwhile, Alya and Nino were still going strong. That was no surprise to anyone. Same with Mylène and Ivan, and Juleka and Rose. Oddly enough, Luka and Chloe were now a couple. After Marinette and Adrien split with Luka and Kagami (who later came out as gay), a whole bunch of crazy things went down, and somehow Chloe learned how to be a better person. Still a little snarky, but it seemed like Luka liked that about her. “Her song is a complicated one, with dissonance leading into perfect harmony,” he said once.

Even Lila rarely came to school anymore. Most of the students had figured out her lying problem, and though she gave some half-baked apology, they didn’t really associate with her much anymore. She would usually just sulk in the corner of the room and do her work in silence.

If only Hawkmoth were no longer a problem. Somehow, this hack of a villain had persisted through years of akumas ranging from dangerous like Miracle Queen to utterly idiotic like Gigantitan. Even now that the heroes were experienced enough to not have a time-out on their miraculous, he somehow managed to never get caught. Ladybug and Chat Noir were growing tired of him.

Marinette was up late working on a dress for her second fashion line. The pale light of the crescent moon mingled with the glaring desk lamp, creating an atmosphere almost too pleasant as it kept lulling her progress. Every once in a while, she had to rub her eyes and take a sip of the pu-erh tea she had brewed to stay awake. This hem line was killing her. 

A tap on the window jolted Marinette out of her designing daze. After taking a moment to steady herself, she went over and opened the window, letting in the cat superhero.

“Good evening my lady,” Chat Noir said, dipping into a bow. Marinette would usually find this charming, but it was just late enough that her ability to find anything charming had disappeared.

“Chat, shouldn’t you be on patrol right now?” She glanced at the calendar. “Or even better sleeping? It’s Rena Rouge’s turn today.”

“I couldn’t sleep.”

Marinette’s exhausted demeanor shifted. She took one of Chat Noir’s hands in hers, leading him to sit on her chaise lounge. She looked at him with worry in her eyes.

“Is it your mom?”

“Actually, no.” Chat Noir sat cross-legged, facing Marinette. “I was working on my budget sheet for my gap year, which got me thinking. Next year, you will be going full-time to a school where you are following your passion, as will so many others. We’ll lose some support from the Alya and Rose and a few others since they’re going to college in other parts of France. And a lot of you should be prioritizing your education and careers.”

“What are you getting at?”

“Will we be able to stop Hawkmoth every single time he makes a new akuma?”

Marinette thought about it. Fashion school plus working in the bakery plus sleep plus hero stuff. Her breathing started to quicken. Hawkmoth created an average of nine akumas per week. Her heart beat a little faster. She needed to be at every akuma fight because of her purifying power. Her chest clenched.

“Oh no! What are we going to do?” She stood and started pacing. “I won’t be able to skip class as much as I do now. I won’t have time to do biweekly patrols. Maybe I could have another person use the ladybug miraculous! But how will I know ahead of time who would be available? And I also promised my parents I’d work part time in the bakery. Maybe I just won’t sleep! That’ll work, right?”

“Marinette!”

Marinette whipped around to face Chat Noir, her chest heaving. He stood up and calmly walked over to her, wrapping her in a hug. She sank into his warm embrace, pacing her breathing. They stayed there for a moment, taking comfort in each other. Chat Noir slowly pulled away, then brought her back to the chaise to sit down.

“What I mean,” he said, “is we need to stop Hawkmoth once and for all.”

“Don’t we always need to do that?”

“Yes, but we’ve never planned our attacks on him. They’ve always been reactionary.”

“True.” Marinette glanced across the room at Tikki, who had managed to sleep peacefully through this whole ordeal. She didn’t want to wake the kwami, but she would have loved her advice in that moment. She stood again, patting Chat’s hand to reassure him she wasn’t about to have another anxiety attack. She pulled out a whiteboard she had stuffed into a corner, one that held all of the information she knew about Hawkmoth.

“Wow!” Chat Noir walked over to get a closer look at it. “I didn’t know you had this. It’s very detailed.”

“I started it before we knew each other’s identities and haven’t added much since. I only update every time someone new is akumatized.” Marinette squinted at the board. “The problem is, I can’t be sure Hawkmoth can’t akumatize himself.”

“Why would he do that?” Chat Noir asked.

“The real question is: why wouldn’t he do that?” Marinette said. “He wouldn’t have to worry about a different agenda getting in his way, like with Evillustrator and Robostus. Also, it would make us less likely to assume he was Hawkmoth.”

“He’s the pigeon man!”

Marinette raised an eyebrow. Chat Noir returned it with a grin.

“It makes perfect sense!” He grew serious, acting out each theory as he presented them. “He uses the pigeons as a cover, because who would really be so obsessed with pigeons? Pigeons are also a flying animal, just like a butterfly! And that’s why he’s been akumatized so many times. That whole ‘sad because I keep getting akumatized’ thing is just an act.” Chat Noir put his hands on his hips, triumphant. “It’s gotta be him.”

Marinette sighed, trying to cover a giggle from Chat’s overconfidence. “It can’t be Mr. Ramier because we saw him and Hawkmoth together the last time he got akumatized. One of the few times Hawkmoth came down and actually fought us himself.”

“Oh, right.” Chat Noir’s ears drooped.

“There’s no sure way to know any one person is Hawkmoth, especially since whether he can akumatize himself is still unknown to us.” Marinette held her face in her hands. “Ugh, I wish Master Fu had taught me more before assigning the Guardian role to me.”

“Hey.” Chat Noir turned her around to face him. “You’re doing great. I know you can figure something out from all that you’ve gathered.”

Marinette nodded and took a closer look at the board. She had circled everyone who had been akumatized more than once, and one name stuck out to her.

“Lila.”

“Lila is Hawkmoth?”

“No.” Marinette shook her head. “I don’t think she could be. But she has helped Hawkmoth both as a supervillain and as a civilian. The illusion that showed me turning evil and killing you on Heroes Day had to have been made by her, and the lies she told to get me in trouble the day I got suspended led to Hawkmoth attempting another mass akumatization, one that he had to have planned out. Not to mention, Lila hates Ladybug.”

Marinette pointed a finger at Lila’s name. “I bet she’s working for him!”

“She is tricky enough to manage that…” Chat Noir trailed off, staring at the board. Besides the list of akumatized people, it held many pictures from the Ladyblog and news sites. This included photos, albeit blurry photos, of Hawkmoth and Mayura the few times they had been fighting on the ground. “Could she be Mayura?”

“I might have suspected that a few years ago.” Marinette chuckled. “But since learning your identity and seeing our classmates’ hero forms, I realized a person’s height and physique aren’t changed by the Miraculous. Mayura is an adult, has been for at least four years, unlike Lila.” She scowled at one of the Hawkmoth photos. “This weirdo’s got at least two women working for him.”

“So what does this tell us? Do we even know if Lila knows Hawkmoth’s identity?”

“We can’t be sure, but if we just found some way to get her to lead us to him.” Marinette went back to her chaise and plopped down. She fumbled with her shirt collar, and when that failed to help her think, she pushed her hair behind her ears. Her fingers grazed the surface of her earrings.

The Ladybug earrings.

Marinette jumped up, making Chat Noir’s tail stand on end.

“I’ve got an idea!” She rushed to her desk and pulled out a piece of paper and pen. “It would be risky, but it just might work.” She scribbled out some bullet points with visuals, then turned to face Chat Noir. “Lila is going to take the Ladybug earrings to Hawkmoth.”

“What? No, that’s too dangerous.”

“We just need to be careful. Rely heavily on the fox and mouse Miraculous.” Marinette flashed a smile at Chat Noir. “We’ve done crazier things before.”

A blush crept up Chat Noir’s cheeks. God, it was hard to say no to this girl.

“Okay, tell me the plan.”

⁘

A few days later, Ladybug and Rena Rouge were staking out the park. It was late at night, so no one else would be around to see what was happening, but Lila had been spotted here on night patrols multiple times. Ladybug wouldn’t have been surprised if this was where she got in touch with Hawkmoth. 

“Do you have the image in your mind?” she asked Rena Rouge.

“Girl, I’ve been studying that image for the last few hours. It’s seared into my brain.” Rena Rouge laughed. “Who is that person anyway?”

“Two people, actually, morphed together digitally. Even without the media watching I don’t want anyone else put in danger of being targeted by Hawkmoth.”

“Good idea.”

They waited, the minutes ticking by. Ladybug groaned.

“What’s taking her so long?”

“Come on, you of all people should know how to be patient for these things.”

“But what if she doesn’t come at all? We don’t know for sure she has a schedule for these meetups. How many times are we going to have to wait here before she shows up?” Ladybug’s breathing started to quicken. “What if she’s seen us patrolling this area before and changed her location? How will we ever know where to find her? It’s not like we know where she lives. And she only goes to school in the daytime, when there are people around, and that would completely defeat the purpose!”

“Hey, Ladybug.” Rena Rouge took her by the shoulders and looked in her eyes. “We’ll figure this out. Even if she doesn’t show up tonight. You’re not alone in this.”

Ladybug took a deep breath and smiled gratefully. Truthfully, it would be better in some ways if Lila didn’t show up tonight. Give them more time to prepare.

Footsteps echoed on the path.

“She’s here!” Rena Rouge whispered. The two women hunkered down behind the bush. It was Lila alright. And her hunched over posture and quick glances to either side of her suggested she was up to no good.

“Okay, let’s do this.” Ladybug whipped out her yo-yo and used to swing over to a tree near the bench Lila usually sat at. Once she arrived, she made sure she would be in the right position for Lila to see and hear her, and said, “Spots off.”

Tikki appeared in her hand just as Marinette heard a gasp coming from Lila’s direction. She gave Tikki a questioning look as she fed the kwami a cookie.

“The illusion is up,” Tikki whispered. She looked frightened, poor thing. Marinette wished she didn’t have to put Tikki through this to make the plan work, but there wasn’t another way she could think of. Giving Tikki a reassuring pat, Marinette stepped out from behind the tree into view.

“Ladybug!” Lila said. Marinette – in clothes completely different from anything she’d ever worn and with a fake face provided by Rena Rouge – whipped around to face her, putting on her best “caught in the act” face.

“What? No. Who’s Ladybug?”

“You are, you lying little sneak.” Ironic for Lila to say that. She scowled and lunged at Marinette, knocking her over. Marinette acted like she was trying to get away, struggling and protesting. It took more effort to stop herself from pushing Lila off than it did to act frantic. So often an akumatized person had almost taken her earrings from her; the fight or flight response kicked in anytime someone got near her ears. As Lila grappled at the earrings, Marinette tensed up, teeth clenching. Every possible scenario shot through her mind. What if this plan didn’t work? Hell, what if Lila tried to take her to Hawkmoth as well as the earrings?

But Lila was in too much of a rush to do that. As soon as she had pried the earrings off Marinette, she ran to the park’s exit.

Marinette sat for a moment, catching her breath. She heard Rena Rouge rushing over to her before she felt her friend’s hand on her shoulder.

“Are you alright?”

“I’ll be fine.” Marinette’s hands instinctually went up to her ears. All the other times she’d had a close stroke with her identity being revealed, losing Tikki, or Hawkmoth winning, she’d taken comfort in knowing that the Miraculous was still there. Now it wasn’t. She pinched the lobes of her ears as if the sensation would trick her mind.

“Marinette?”

She shook her head and forced her hands to her knees. “Have you heard from Chat?”

“Yeah. He and Carapace are on Lila’s trail. They’re gonna need you soon, though.”

“Okay.” Marinette stood up. “I’m ready.” She wasn’t, but that was beside the point. She took the mouse Miraculous out of her pocket and put it on. “Mullo, get squeaky!”

As soon as she transformed into Multimouse, she initiated Multitude. Six little versions of her all jumped into Rena Rouge’s palm, and they rocketed off in the direction of the other two heroes.

⁘

“Carapace! Chat Noir!” Rena Rouge finally caught up to them. “What’s Lila doing now?”

“I’m not sure. It seems like she’s gone home.” Chat Noir held out his hand so five of Multimouse could hop onto it. “We’ve been hearing shouting coming from below, but I can’t make out what they’re saying, or who the other person is.”

“Bring me down there,” Multimouse said.

Chat Noir nodded. He used his pole to slide down just in front of a curtained window. Before Multimouse could go inside, he curled his fingers a little to stop her.

"Chat!" she groaned. "What are you doing?"

“I want to make sure you're okay before you go in there.”

“I’m fine. We need to keep this going so we don’t slip up.”

“Yes, I know. But they’re still arguing in there, so I know we have time.” He brought his hand closer to his face, so he could look all the Multimice in the eyes. “You must be worried about Tikki at least.”

“I am…” Multimouse sat down for a moment. “We haven’t been apart in so long. I feel like there’s a part of me missing without her or the Miraculous.” She smacked her palm against her forehead. “Ugh! But we can’t dwell on that now. Come on, just let me go inside.”

Chat Noir relented, still looking concerned. Multimouse snuck in through the open window and split off. Two of her started searching for the Miraculous in Lila’s room, one of her stayed by the window, and two of her followed the arguing voices into the hallway. Multimouse checked the clock on the wall. Almost four in the morning? They had to act quickly.

“You should be grateful for the life I provide you! You have plenty to eat and a great education.” It was Lila’s mom, Multimouse realized. One of her snuck into the woman’s pocket.

“You leave me alone for sixteen hours of the day and expect me to be grateful?” Lila was practically seething. The other Multimouse hopped into her pocket. She landed on something metallic. It was the earrings! A wave of relief washed over her, and she mentally told the other Multimice that she had found them.

“I try to get you a nanny, but they are always quitting. What are you not telling me?”

“You would know if you were ever around!” Lila was on the brink of tears. Multimouse could never be sure when Lila was lying, but she felt uncomfortable listening in on this very personal argument. “I…I hate you!”

Lila’s mother gasped and slapped Lila. Multimouse had to hold herself back from leaping out and defending Lila. No parent should hit their child, no matter how horrible they might be.

Wings flapped in the distance.

This was all part of her plan! Multimouse realized. Sure enough, Lila was smirking. But it wasn’t her usual confident smirk. There was still a hint of pain and sadness behind it. Lila was good at coming up with lies, sure, but Multimouse had learned over the years that her expressions could easily betray her.

But that wasn’t going to help them find Hawkmoth. Lila reached one hand into her pocket to grab the earrings (Multimouse had to plaster herself up against the side to not be noticed) and reached her other hand out to grab the akuma. She brought it to one of her hairbands.

“Hawkmoth, I have a surprise for you.” Lila’s mother stared on in horror as Lila talked to the supervillain. “Turn me into something that will let me bring you Ladybug’s Miraculous.”

Multimouse gasped just as Lila began to transform. The pocket around her turned from gray to bright yellow. She peaked out to see Lila’s akumatized form. A suit, not unlike that of the heroes, had formed around her. It was bright yellow with thin white stripes. She wore goggles and her hair was now in a single ponytail, the hairband around it. The stripes on her boots were moving in circles. She got into a running stance.

“Speedster, I like it. I’ll see you very soon Hawkmoth.”

Before Multimouse could brace herself, Speedster dashed off, zooming out of the apartment, out of the building, and down the streets of Paris. The pocket did little to protect Multimouse from the force. She clung to the fabric and gritted her teeth, waiting for it to be over.

Meanwhile, the Multimice in the apartment returned to Chat Noir’s hand.

“Lila got akumatized! She’s heading southeast.”

Chat Noir nodded and returned to the roof, where the other Multimouse joined with the four remaining ones. It was a little awkward, only growing five sixths her usual height. She glared at Chat Noir when he couldn’t help but giggle.

“Come on, she’s already way ahead of us. Rena Rouge, call Queen Bee and tell her to join us. We’re gonna need all the help we can get.”

The heroes nodded and dashed off in the direction Speedster had gone. Multimouse told them when to turn right and left, working hard to parse the memory of her sixth self with the current position of the rest of her. She knew they were getting close. She knew that her other self had already arrived. But she was so focused on the mental gymnastics of this form that she hadn’t been paying attention to the actual location Speedster was.

No, it wasn’t until she felt Chat Noir squeeze her hand that she realized where they were.

Agreste Manor.


	2. Hawkmoth

“Chat Noir?”

“No. It can’t be.”

“Chat.”

“We already decided it wasn’t him.”

“Adrien.”

Chat Noir finally looked back at Multimouse. He had halted in his tracks, prompting everyone else to stop as well.

“Chat, she’s inside.” Multimouse squeezed his hand back. He closed his eyes and nodded. They had a job to do.

It wasn’t difficult for Chat Noir to push down his feelings about his father. After all, this hadn’t been the first time they’d suspected him to be Hawkmoth. Time and time again, his father found some way to disappoint him, and time and time again he would have to get over it. Lashing out wouldn’t do any good. One step out of line and his father would take away one of the few freedoms he had. Every time he would remind himself, _Two more years until I’m free. One more year until I’m free. Six more months until I’m free_.

This mantra wasn’t much help as Chat Noir used his own keys to get them through the gates and into the house. Now all he could do was list all the people living in the house and try to prove it was someone else. Gorilla? No, he was too kindhearted. One of the kitchen staff? Maybe, but it would be a stretch. Nathalie?

_She could be Mayura_.

_No!_ He shoved that thought down too. Mantras, lists, these weren’t going to help with the mission. Multimouse led them through the oh-so-familiar halls to the room with his mother’s painting.

“She was let through a secret passageway here, but I couldn’t see where it was,” Multimouse said. “Look around, see if we can find it.”

As the other heroes searched the room, Chat Noir could only stare at his mother’s painting. If she were here, she’d know what to do. She wouldn’t have even let this happen. She had only disappeared a few years ago, but his memories of her were already fading. Whenever he tried to picture her, it was always obscured. Either the painting, a photo of her, or her sister.

Absentmindedly, Chat Noir approached the painting. He ran his fingers across it, the brush strokes rough and untouched.

Except for that part.

He brought his hand back to the spot he had grazed over. One of the triangles, a bit of a reach for him, but easily level with his father. He grazed over other parts of the painting at the same height. There, another. And two more! He placed his middle and index fingers over them and pushed.

A whirring sound a few feet away revealed a round trapdoor of sorts. The other heroes crowded around.

“This must be it.” Multimouse looked at Chat Noir, worry written all over her slightly smaller face. “Are you ready?”

“I don’t know.” Chat Noir walked up to the door and took Multimouse’s hand in his. “But we have to do this.”

The trapdoor took them into a long hallway. If Chat Noir’s sense of direction was correct, they were headed toward the back of the mansion. He knew there were a lot of rooms he had never been in and he had always assumed it was just his father’s workspace. In a way, that was true.

_No, no, stop thinking about it. Push it down._ He had to focus on the mission. Family drama could wait. It always did.

The hall had come to an end, with another trapdoor above them. Multimouse turned to face the others.

“Alright everyone. Hawkmoth could be just on the other side of this door, and he’s supported by Speedster. We have to be ready to face this man, whoever he may be.” She cast a glance at Chat when she said that. “Based on what the other little me can hear, he doesn’t suspect us. He is mostly gloating about finally having the Ladybug earrings and making plans to get the Cat ring. He is…” She paused, like she was trying to decipher something. “Oh. He is realizing he needs to put the earrings on to use them, but his ears aren’t pierced.” She knit her eyebrows. “I guess that gives us some time.”

Chat Noir couldn’t wait any longer. Either his father was Hawkmoth, or he wasn’t. Waiting would only delay the inevitable.

“Let’s go!” he said, and burst through the trapdoor. The room above was rounded and spacious, purple-tinted with white butterflies flying all around. And there was Hawkmoth, talking to what must have been Lila as Speedster. Hawkmoth looked just as he always did: tall, imposing, masked. But now all Chat Noir could see were the similarities to his father.

“Give us back the Miraculous, Hawkmoth!” Multimouse shouted as she and the others rose out of the floor. Her other little self jumped out of Lila’s pocket and joined her, making her full size once more. As one, the heroes rushed toward the supervillains. Chat Noir knew the others would be focused on grabbing the Ladybug earrings, but he only had one goal. Unmask Hawkmoth.

He locked his sight on the brooch at the front of Hawkmoth’s suit and dashed towards it, reaching his hand out to grab it.

Bam! He was knocked aside by Hawkmoth’s cane.

Chat Noir took out his staff and thrust it forward, but it was blocked.

Parry, parry, thrust. They continued, fencing with their weapons. Around them, the others fought Speedster, who had taken ahold of the earrings.

“You think you can best me?” Hawkmoth taunted, in a voice so similar to Chat Noir’s father, he didn’t know how he’d never noticed it before. “I was a fencing master in college.”

_Just like my father._

This time, Chat Noir didn’t push that thought down. With a roar, he lunged at Hawkmoth. His whole body crashed into the man and sent him toppling over to the window. Chat Noir tried to grab at the brooch, but Hawkmoth grabbed his wrists, keeping him at bay. Chat Noir pushed him up against the window, but didn’t have the strength to grab at the brooch.

He had one other option.

“Cataclysm!” he shouted. He looked Hawkmoth dead in the eyes and said, “This is for my father.” Then he touched his hand to the window.

The shattering glass rang out across the room, but Chat Noir only had a second to hear it before he and Hawkmoth were sent tumbling down the side of the building. They had almost hit the ground, when something grabbed them, wrapping them together with a string.

Ladybug! She was back! Chat Noir smiled in the direction of his lady. She let them go and joined them on the ground.

As soon as he was out of Ladybug’s yo-yo, Hawkmoth took off running.

“No!” Chat Noir screamed. He ran as fast as he had ever run before, aided by his night vision and the sun just beginning to rise. The streets of Paris were becoming populated again, and he had to maneuver around so he wouldn’t hit anyone. Ladybug stayed close behind.

“We already de-akumatized Lila and de-evilized the akuma,” she said. “Rena Rouge and Carapace should join us in a minute.”

“We can’t let him get away.”

“We won’t.” Ladybug took Chat Noir’s hand in hers. “We’re in this together.”

It was easy to track Hawkmoth. Everywhere he ran, people would scream, recognizing him. He was in too much of a hurry to akumatize anyone and had only his super strength and weapon to fight against four superheroes. Yet, Chat Noir could only fear that he would escape and remain just out of reach.

Finally, they surrounded him by the Arc de Triomphe. Rena Rouge and Carapace at one side, Chat Noir and Ladybug at the other.

“You’re not getting away this time Hawkmoth,” Ladybug said. “You’ve been terrorizing Paris for too long.”

“Terrorizing? Don’t you wonder _why_ I’d put so much on the line for one wish?” Hawkmoth was clearly getting desperate. He still retained his villainous bravado, but it faltered when he mentioned the wish. For a moment, Chat Noir faltered too. What could be his wish? A part of him wanted to hear the man out.

“It doesn’t matter what your wish was. You have caused immense damage to Paris and even the world.” Ladybug sighed in exasperation. “And even if that weren’t the case, you know there is a huge price for using the wish.”

Chat Noir couldn’t argue with that. Of course Hawkmoth’s wish couldn’t be reasonable. Was he only considering this because of Hawkmoth’s true identity?

If that was his true identity.

Chat Noir was so lost in his head that it took him a moment to realize they had already started battling. Quickly, he leaped into the fray. Hit, hit, kick, dodge. Hawkmoth was overwhelmed, but managed to keep them at bay. He backed up further and further. Then, just as the heroes were close to grabbing him, he leapt atop the Arc.

“We need a better plan then just attacking him,” Ladybug said. “Lucky Charm!”

A red trampoline with black polka dots fell to the ground.

“Hm.” Ladybug surveyed the area. Chat Noir always loved it when she did this. Cleverly envisioning a creative use for a seemingly random object. She was amazing.

“I’ve got it!” Ladybug filled the group in on the plan, and they all ran off to their positions. Chat Noir and Rena Rouge pulled the trampoline to one side of the Arc, ready to catch Hawkmoth when he fell. Then Rena Rouge activated her power.

“Mirage!” A fake Queen Bee appeared and ran off to join Ladybug on top of the Arc, just as Carapace created a Shelter around the area so he wouldn’t get away. Rena Rouge smirked at Chat Noir. “Sometimes I prefer a fake Queen Bee to the real one.”

“Where is she anyway? Wasn’t she coming?”

“She’s certainly taking her time.” Rena Rouge moved towards the middle of the Arc to keep track of her Mirage. Chat Noir propelled himself up to just below the top of the Arc, ready to Cataclysm the concrete below Hawkmoth’s feet so he would fall off onto the trampoline. Then, Ladybug would grapple him with her yo-yo and take his Miraculous. It was a great plan.

Until Hawkmoth realized what was going on. The fake Queen Bee had been gaining on him, threatening him with Venom, and he was almost at the edge of the Arc, but he must have seen Rena Rouge, or noticed something off about the Mirage, because he whipped his cane in front of him and dispelled the image. Chat Noir gritted his teeth. _Damnit._

Hawkmoth leapt forward, attacking Ladybug. She was startled but managed to engage him in battle. One-on-one, both trying to get the other’s Miraculous. Rena Rouge joined in, pulling the fight in their favor. Chat Noir stayed frozen, unsure what to do. He could work with Ladybug’s plans, he could fight villains, and he could destroy akumatized objects. But he couldn’t destroy a Miraculous, or at least he shouldn’t.

He leapt down to join Carapace, who was keeping the Shelter intact.

“We need to go help them, but I’m not sure how,” Chat Noir said.

“Is there a way to use the trampoline? I might be able to jump up and join you with it.”

“Or maybe…” Chat Noir looked at the trampoline, then looked at his hand. “If there were a small hole in the middle, it could trap Hawkmoth. We’d just have to find a way to catch him unawares.”

“Hey, shell-boy! Cat-boy!” Chat Noir recognized that piercing voice immediately. Sure enough, Queen Bee had finally arrived, and was calling to them from the other side of the Shelter. Carapace opened up a section of it to let her in.

“Took you long enough,” he said. She ignored him.

“What can I do?” At least she was quick to the point, Chat Noir admitted. In fact, she would be perfect for his plan.

“Come with me.” He ran back to the trampoline and used his Cataclysm on the middle, creating a small hole. Queen Bee took it from him, and he extended his baton to take them up to the top of the Arc. Thankfully, Hawkmoth wasn’t looking their way. Chat Noir nodded at Queen Bee.

She launched her spinning top across the top of the Arc. In a split second, it rocketed her towards Hawkmoth, too fast for him to realize what was happening. She pulled the trampoline over his head, pinning his arms to his sides.

Hawkmoth had been captured.

As Carapace lifted his Shelter, Chat Noir realized just how many people had gathered. The news, the mayor, people who had been akumatized, people he knew personally. All of them were about to see the true identity of Hawkmoth.

“Hawkmoth,” Ladybug said, switching into her Guardian voice. She used it whenever addressing a new hero or talking about kwamis and the Miraculous Box. Just a hint of officialness without abandoning her signature warmth. But there was no warmth this time. “For crimes against the people of Paris and for abusing the power of the Miraculous, I am confiscating your Miraculous permanently.”

She reached forward and plucked the brooch from his collar.

Chat Noir sucked in a breath.

Gabriel Agreste stood before them.

Gasps rang out across the crowd below. People snapped pictures and jeers echoed off the buildings. Even the heroes stood dumbstruck. Chat Noir couldn’t figure out why he was so floored by this revelation. Of course it was his father. He knew that from the second they saw Speedster enter his home. But him standing right there for all of Paris to see, unmasked and scowling, made it real. There was no denying it now.

And he couldn’t even react without revealing his identity.

Chat Noir clenched his fists, holding his anger inside. He did this as Ladybug pulled the trampoline off of his father. He did this as Ladybug threw the Lucky Charm into the air and reverted everything back to normal. He did this as his father lunged at Ladybug and shoved her to the ground.

_Wait, what?_

His father had pinned Ladybug down and was grabbing at her earrings in one last-ditch effort. Chat Noir ran to help his girlfriend but before he could get there, she managed to throw his father off of her. Gabriel Agreste rolled across the side of the Arc, then tumbled off the edge.

“No!” Ladybug and Chat Noir shouted in unison.

But it was too late. Gabriel Agreste had hit the pavement and was lying, motionless, on the ground.


End file.
